Dingling Tomb Tour

Dingling Tomb is the representative royal tomb of the Ming Tombs. Under ground and about 27 meters deep, it is the mausoleum of Emperor Zhu Yijun, the thirteenth emperor who occupied the throne the longest during the Ming Dynasty, and his two empresses. He ruled his great empire for 48 years, the longest regin in his dynasty. The historial documents show that the total cost for the tomb amazingly reached over 8 million taels of silver, which was approximately equivalent to the entire tax income for two years of ten gobernment.

It is the only tomb of the thirteen to be exacavated, and the third largest tomb after Changling and Yongling tomb. The underground palace is 27 meters deep with a total floor space of 1,195 square meters. It consists of five chambers: the antechamber, the central chamber, the rear chamber and two annex chambers on both sides of the central chamber. All of these chambers were built of stone without using a single beam or column, among which the rear chamber is the largest and most important one in the underground palace. It is 30 meters long, 9.5 meters high and 9 meters wide, and contains three coffins (the largest one in the middle was for the emperor and the smaller ones for the empresses).

Besides the coffins, there are also 26 red-lacquered wooden boxes containing 3, 000 or so precious funeral objects. Of the unearthed items, a gold crown and a phoenix crown are the most amazing. The gold crown was woven with very fine gold filaments and has two dragons playing with a pearl on the top. The beautiful phoenix crown was worn by the empress only at grand ceremonies or special occasions. One crown was inlaid with over 5, 000 pearls of different sizes and more than 100 valuable gems. Today tourists can see these precious antiques in the exhibition halls of Ding Ling.

The Sacred Way, Dingling Tomb and Changling Tomb are the highlights of the 13 Ming Tombs.

Location: located in the Ming Tombs

Opening Hours: 08:30 – 18:00

How to get there

You can take the bus no. 919 at the Deshengmen Xi Station, and get off at Changping Xi Guan Station. Then, you take the bus no. 314 and get off at the Dingling Tomb Station or Changling Tomb Station.

How to get to Badaling Great Wall from Ming Tombs

Take bus no. 314 at Dingling Tomb or Changling Tomb, and get off at Ming Huang La Xiang Gong Station, then take the bus no. 919 (慢) at the South Gate of the Ming Dynasty Wax Museum, and get off at Badaling Great Wall.

Weather/Best Time to Go

Beijing enjoys the humid continental climate with hot humid summers, cold dry winters, shorter spring and autumn. You can have a Beijing tour any time of the year, because it can give fresh feeling by enjoying the special tour of the four seasons.

Spring, summer and autumn are all the best time of year to visit, when the area surrounding the vaults is alive with trees and blooming flowers. It is a good place to visit if you are interested in dynastic history of Ming.

Travel Tips

• The Dingling of 13 Ming Tombs is on the way to Badaling Great Wall from Beijing. It is best to arrange the two places in a day.
• You are necessary to consider carefully whether you should enter the underground chambers, because the atmosphere and dull lighting may be a problem for you.